The tree of the knowledge of good and evil, why was it created and placed on earth?

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posthuman

Senior Member
Jul 31, 2013
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Was it a part of the naming process of all the creature God created by Adam?
yes exactly that, the explanation the text gives us is that: "to see what he would call them"
i.e. name them - Adam is, significantly, a great 'namer' -- that is powerful


as a type of the One to come, Christ, who will give us each a new name ((Revelation 2:17, c.f.e. Isaiah 62:2 - He is LORD))
will He also give every living soul, every animal, a new name? :unsure:

which again tells me Adam has free will -- not that God in His omniscience didn't know what Adam would name each soul, but that He delights in watching him exercise the will He bestowed on him :)


but the fact He first says it is not good that Adam is alone, then presents every living soul to him to be named, and then creates Woman as his helper, shows me that it is for Adam's benefit to know the other creatures, and to know that they are not sufficient for him as a companion, but that his wife is.
 

Magenta

Senior Member
Jul 3, 2015
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Slain BEFORE the foundations of the earth were laid.
New International Version
All inhabitants of the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been
written in the Lamb’s book of life, the Lamb who was slain from the creation of the world.

New Living Translation
And all the people who belong to this world worshiped the beast. They are the ones whose names were
not written in the Book of Life that belongs to the Lamb who was slaughtered before the world was made.

English Standard Version
and all who dwell on earth will worship it, everyone whose name has not been written
before the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slain.

Berean Study Bible
And all who dwell on the earth will worship the beast—all whose names have not been written
from the foundation of the world in the Book of Life belonging to the Lamb who was slain.

Berean Literal Bible
And all dwelling on the earth will worship it, of whom their names have not been written
from the founding of the world in the book of life of the Lamb having been slain.

King James Bible
And all that dwell upon the earth shall worship him, whose names are not
written in the book of life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

New King James Version
All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been
written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world.

New American Standard Bible
All who live on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written
since the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slaughtered.

NASB 1995
All who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been written
from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain.

NASB 1977
And all who dwell on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name has not been
written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who has been slain.

Christian Standard Bible
All those who live on the earth will worship it, everyone whose name was not written
from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slaughtered.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
All those who live on the earth will worship him, everyone whose name was not written
from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb who was slaughtered.

American Standard Version
And all that dwell on the earth shall worship him, every one whose name hath not been
written from the foundation of the world in the book of life of the Lamb that hath been slain.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
And all the inhabitants of The Earth will worship it, those who are not written
in The Book of Life of The Lamb slain before the foundation of the world.


:)
 

posthuman

Senior Member
Jul 31, 2013
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If they had ongoing access to the tree of life would God have still have sent the Lamb of God to take away Adam and Eve's sin if they ate of the tree of life and lived alongside Jesus 4000 years later? Would they be able to accept the redemptive work of Christ and enter into the place Jesus went to prepare for us (them)? How would that have panned out do you think?
seeing that God prevented it, while having given them the protoevangelion, and knowing that God is good, i think that it's clear this would not have been a good outcome for them and His mercy is on them by doing this.
i imagine it would have panned out just as the situation will be for all those who are thrown into the lake of fire at the final judgement: eternal existence in an eternal state of death, spiritually separated from the One who is Life in Spirit. that Life would eternally convict them of the death in them.


this is why we must be born again - because our natural birth is in corruption, and the Holy Spirit would convict us in His presence, rather than justify us in our faith.
 

JohnDB

Well-known member
Jan 16, 2021
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again indicating to my thinking that Satan fell before the creation of the earth ;)
I'm thinking that it meant that God created our salvation before our first sin condemned us.
 

posthuman

Senior Member
Jul 31, 2013
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Not necessarily. A&E were of the natural world and as such would have required a Spiritual rebirth to attain to life ever after, although as it was, God was sustaining them, just as He does all things at all times.
i don't agree they had to be reborn, before they sinned. i think that we must be born again because of sin - so it doesn't make sense to me that they, while sinless, needed to be saved from sin.
my understanding is that the rebirth became necessary only after sin & death entered them; that to be reborn of spirit is the remedy for that

 

posthuman

Senior Member
Jul 31, 2013
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So angels (demons ) could choose to repent and return to their Creator's side?
that, i do not know.

is 1 Peter 3:19-20 about angels or about men?
((
He preached to the spirits in prison, who disobeyed long ago while God waited patiently in the days of Noah))
if this refers to Him preaching to the angels who came down and corrupted men in those days, the indication would be that yes, they could repent.


these things..

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
it is high, I cannot attain unto it!
(Psalm 139:6)
 

BeeThePeace

Active member
May 2, 2022
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So angels (demons ) could choose to repent and return to their Creator's side?
I don't know about repentance but Lucifer-Satan returned to heaven to confer with God about Job. And he followed the other son's of God into God's presence .
 

randyk

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Jan 14, 2021
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Pacific NW USA
What was the purpose for the creation of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil? And why was it created and placed on earth?
Good question. My personal belief is that Satan had already rebelled against God's exclusive authority in heaven, producing a kind of knowledge called "evil." It was an autonomous knowledge, belonging to Satan alone, distinct from the knowledge that comes from God alone.

Since Satan was given freedom to choose for or against God, his choice against God gave mankind the same choice, to choose for autonomous knowledge or strictly for the knowledge of God. Man chose both, allowing for 2 kinds of people. One kind end up like Satan, being completely committed to autonomous, self-oriented knowledge, the knowledge of evil.

The other kind, a combination of evil and good knowledge, is redeemable when the person abandons the quest for independent knowledge, and fully commits to return to the exclusive knowledge of God. God has rejected a perpetuity of the situation in which a combination of good and evil knowledge coexists in Mankind.
 

posthuman

Senior Member
Jul 31, 2013
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Good question. My personal belief is that Satan had already rebelled against God's exclusive authority in heaven, producing a kind of knowledge called "evil." It was an autonomous knowledge, belonging to Satan alone, distinct from the knowledge that comes from God alone.

Since Satan was given freedom to choose for or against God, his choice against God gave mankind the same choice, to choose for autonomous knowledge or strictly for the knowledge of God. Man chose both, allowing for 2 kinds of people. One kind end up like Satan, being completely committed to autonomous, self-oriented knowledge, the knowledge of evil.

The other kind, a combination of evil and good knowledge, is redeemable when the person abandons the quest for independent knowledge, and fully commits to return to the exclusive knowledge of God. God has rejected a perpetuity of the situation in which a combination of good and evil knowledge coexists in Mankind.
there are only 2 kinds of people:
  1. those who fit into one of the 2 categories
  2. those who don't


    :geek:
 

Mem

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Sep 23, 2014
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The teaching about a man leaving his mother and father and cleaving to his wife one of personal responsibility, for the care of other than self and without the concern of being 'cared for', which all have, at one time or another in their existence, been reluctant to accept.
 

BeeThePeace

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May 2, 2022
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which tells me Satan fell before the events in Genesis 3. i'm inclined to believe at least as early as between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2, if not before Genesis 1:1 -- noting that the creation of the angels is not related to us, and that Job 38:6-7 tells us the "morning stars sang together and the sons of God shouted for joy" watching the foundations of the earth being laid, therefore, they pre-existed the earth in its present form.

the fact angels can sin tells me angels have will
Or their what they're labled to be, emissaries. I think they fell before creation Genesis 1. That's why the serpent was in Eden .
 

Magenta

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Jul 3, 2015
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i don't agree they had to be reborn, before they sinned. i think that we must be born again because of sin - so it doesn't make sense to me that they, while sinless, needed to be saved from sin.
my understanding is that the rebirth became necessary only after sin & death entered them; that to be reborn of spirit is the remedy for that


First comes the natural, then the spiritual. They, Adam and Eve, were of the
natural world whether they sinned or not. The Tree of Life was right there.
Do you suppose in eating from it, they would then live forever? God said
that is what would happen, and why He barred the way to it from them,
in their sinful state. Was the Tree of Life not a type of the True Vine?
 

Gideon300

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Mar 18, 2021
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If they had ongoing access to the tree of life would God have still have sent the Lamb of God to take away Adam and Eve's sin if they ate of the tree of life and lived alongside Jesus 4000 years later? Would they be able to accept the redemptive work of Christ and enter into the place Jesus went to prepare for us (them)? How would that have panned out do you think?
No, they would have been eternally evil, like Satan. In order to be born again, God has to remove the sinful nature we inherit from Adam. God does this by including us in the death of Christ. That's what it means to be "crucified with Christ". The old nature is removed. Lord Jesus rose from the dead and we rise with Him. (Ephesians 1:13), Galatians 2:20, Colossians 2:13)
 

Gideon300

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Mar 18, 2021
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So angels (demons ) could choose to repent and return to their Creator's side?
No. Angels are spirit beings. They were in the spirit realm, they were not bound to the earth like Adam. They saw and knew God, unlike man (1 John 4:12).

Lord Jesus came to earth to live as man and to die in man's place. He is called the Last Adam and the Second Man. He called Himself the Son of Man. Hell was created for the devil and his angels. There is no salvation for angels.
 

BeeThePeace

Active member
May 2, 2022
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They were not in a state of "without knowing anything".
They didnt know right from wrong.

They were also created in the image and likeness of God.God is a spirit.

Their fall was what made them mortal and able to die in the flesh.
 

crossnote

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Nov 24, 2012
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Y
One of the most elusive questions when it comes to God issues.
 

posthuman

Senior Member
Jul 31, 2013
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The answers sought would be best found in Scripture, and if we can't find out the Y there, best not to make up answers.
the Bible leaves many questions tacitly unanswered - so that there is room for opinion on many things.
those things we ought to recognize as opinion.

all our opinions ought to be substantiated with scripture if possible, and most of all be consistent with what scripture tells us for certain. from scripture we can discard many opinions, even if we can't settle decidedly on one.